“It’s too bad Dr J. didn’t come out tonight,” Josie said to Lakshmi as they stood together at the si
“It’s too bad Dr J. didn’t come out tonight,” Josie said to Lakshmi as they stood together at the side of the bar, which was well-populated by ladies from work. Josie’s girlish voice just carried over the music. “I wanted to see him dance with Melissa in those heels she has on!”To that, Lakshmi just nodded, sipping at her Amaretto Sour and watching the bolder of her co-workers - new and old - dancing together near the electric jukebox thingy. It was already a few hours past “Happy Hour” and the celebration of everyone’s first day continued, getting late for a Monday. Nevertheless, Melissa was out there dancing with Vida, Randi and the new girl Julia, all smiling and laughing. Even CiCi was dancing, clumsy but energetic in her frumpy shoes, work skirt and grandma glasses.“Scared of what his wife would say, you think?” Amelia chimed in, stepping in with another drink for Lakshmi and Josie. “Not letting him go out with the hotties?”“I guess, maybe,” Lakshmi offered, thanking the blonde for the cocktail, “he’s, I think, been on thin ice with her for a while.”“Oh, do tell…” Amelia urged, sidling up alongside Lakshmi, pulling over a tall stool to perch herself on.Lakshmi was, to Amelia’s first impression, a smart girl with a lot going for her. Why she’d been stuck in this job was beyond her, but hey, whatever. She was super-sweet, seemed to actually like Melissa (unlike a bunch of the other old employees) and had already begun to strike up a friendship with Josie, for whom she was given the daunting task of training as a medical assistant.“Well, y’know…” Lakshmi continued, handing her empty glass to Amelia, who placed it on the bar for her, “Sheryl is-”“Sheryl is his wife?” Josie interjected, sipping at her cocktail, some pink thing as was her usual, “Is she pretty?”“Well, yes, I guess,” Lakshmi answered, “She’s, y’know…”“They’ve had trouble, right?” Amelia asked, inspecting her long, glossy, white-painted nails, “He’s had a couple affairs? With girls from the office?”Lakshmi knew she had to be careful with these Amaretto Sours, knowing how loose her tongue could get. But these new girls were all so cool, and seemed friendly like Melissa. What harm could it do, anyway? It’s not like any of this is any secret. “He, uh…he has.”“And you know about he and Randi, right? The blow job?” Amelia offered.That seemed to shock Lakshmi. “Well, I kinda heard-”“That’s Randi,” Josie smiled, looking at Lakshmi. She was so pretty! Her skin was beautiful, her eyes so big and dark. When she smiled her teeth were big and brilliant white. Her nose was maybe a little long but with a little more makeup she would be a total hottie. “Randi is Randi.”“Hey!” Amelia suddenly exclaimed, in uncharacteristic excitement, looking up from her nails, “Joze, did you get him to follow you, on Insta?”“Yeah, I think so, why?” the smaller, more slender girl answered, pulling her phone from the waistband of her skirt.“Let’s check to see what he’s been doing,” Amelia said, pulling her friend by the arm towards her.“What’s that now?” Lakshmi asked, moving over next to the other two, peering down at Josie’s phone as she swiped it on.“You have that app, right?” Amelia asked Josie, “That lets you see what else your followers are looking at, which pics they’ve been pulling up, or saving, or screen-shotting or whatever?”“I think so…” Josie answered, swiping expertly through her phone, “I haven’t used it for a while…” None of them noticed the pair of girls from the bar, two new hires from the pharmaceutical company, stand up and start shimmying out to the dance floor.“It lets you see that? What other pics your followers look at,” Lakshimi asked, incredulous but interested, “even if they’re on other people’s feeds?”“Yeah…as long as you follow them too, if I remember,” Josie answered, distracted as she- “don’t know if it’s really legal or wh- haha! Found it…”“Cool pull him up,” Amelia directed, the three of them intent now on Josie’s phone, the din of the bar disappearing around them.“Okay…there…’dr_j_78’…let’s see…” Josie said, biting her lower lip in thought while she punched her screen, “he’s been…yep, looking through my pics…”“Which ones?” Lakshmi asked, eyes wide, disbelieving what she was already seeing. She knew Dr.J had the reputation of being sort of a dog but…“All your thirst traps, for sure,” Amelia answered, watching as her friend quickly scrolled through a list, “Your selfies, your cleavage pics. The ones in that dress from last year…says he looked at like 12 of your pics. Didn’t ‘like’ any of them.”“Oh my god!” Lakshmi laughed, “that is so creepy!” Despite herself, Lakshmi felt a dark thrill seeing this, this side of her boss’ secret life. It sorta felt like spying but she couldn’t keep her eyes or smile from flashing in prurient interest.“Wow lookit you in that bikini, Joze,” Amelia teased, punching her friend’s screen to pull up a surprisingly busty shot of “Jozijo” in a yellow two-piece, “Now he knows what you’re packing under that blouse.” She scrolled through a few more pictures, chuckling. “Wow, he really is a horndog…” The girls all giggled, knowing how naughty they were being,“Omigod,” Amelia blurted, suddenly butting in to grab Josie’s phone in her moment of inspiration, “let’s see if he’s been checking Missy out…”